


Tether to the Light

by Queen_Of_Kylux (A_Queer_In_Spaceland)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Darth Tantrum and his Evil Space Ginger, Emperor Hux, Enemies to Lovers, General Hugs knows nothing about feelings, Hux and Kylo are bad people, Hux is really a terrible person, I'm trash honestly, Kylo Ren Angst, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylux - Freeform, M/M, Soulmate AU, Soulmates, Space Murder Boyfriends, Tentative Allies, There will be fluff, but evil fluff, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 09:53:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7263190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Queer_In_Spaceland/pseuds/Queen_Of_Kylux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the destruction of Star Killer Base, Hux is forced to rescue the man he loathes. Broken and bleeding Kylo is at the mercy of his greatest enemy and closest ally. However, an accidental touch of skin jumpstarts something both men had long ago vowed to forget. Soulmate AU with a plot. Future Emperor!Hux</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crimson Snow

“Elric”

It was meticulously inscribed in a tranquil blue ink on the underside of Kylo's right wrist. The name of the man who would bring him happiness and stay by his side forever, according to his mother, but the name of a man who means nothing and must be destroyed according to his master. Soulmates were for the weak, the broken, and the light. While brushing his fingers along the precisely written text allowed a wash of calm to flow over him it was a sensation Kylo refused himself. With his father’s death, it felt as if that invisible string connecting him to this 'Elric' was his last tether to the light side. The last remnant of that scared little boy who brushed over the sky blue word when the voice in his mind got too demanding or his mother unsuccessfully hid her tears from him. 

Snoke knew of the weakness carved into his apprentice's skin since birth and did all he could to prevent his newly acquired slave ever finding the one person that held the power to alter his loyalties. So the ancient force user hid his apprentice behind a mask and destroyed his name. Birthing Kylo Ren, a deadly weapon that would never come into contact with a soul named Elric.  

Now, sure that he is drawing his last breath, Kylo tries to brush his fingers along the five letter word and lets himself wonder. 

**_What if?_ **

**_What if he had found the mysterious Elric?_ **

**_Would they have been happy?_ **

**_Would his absent mother have liked him?_ **

**_Would his father?- no, don’t think about that._ **

**_Was he a smart man, this Elric that Kylo would never get the chance to even speak to._ **

With a heavy sigh and tears stinging his closed eyes Kylo Ren realised that he would never know. He would die in the snow on this cursed planet, the cold stealing his warmth with his blood, without ever meeting the man that fate had destined him to fall in love with. It was a cruel kind of punishment, to take away something he would never get a chance to even taste. His mind began floating away, lulled by the calm sweeping over him from where he’d managed to lightly press a gloved fingertip to the bare skin of his right wrist. It seemed that Kylo Ren was to die with a smile on his newly scarred face. Although it seemed the universe, or maybe just Snoke, had other plans for him. 

“You monstrous fool,” A voice muttered as Kylo registered the roar of what his fogged mind decided was one of those transporters for the storm troopers.  _Atmospheric Assault Lander_ , his brain supplied, L _ength approximately 18 metres, 4 SJAS-210 sublight ion engines_. His mind continued to spout facts he didn't remember reading. Had Kylo been thinking more clearly he would have sensed that it was not his mind clinging to these mundane facts to remain calm but that of his rescuer. A shocking warmth pressed against his neck, the touch strengthening the voice.  _Weak pulse. Slow Breathing. There's so much blood._ _Hysteria filled the words as they swirling in Kylo’s fading mind._  

"Get him onto the transporter!" The voice demanded, sounding calm and cool despite the panic that Kylo could feel rushing through their veins. When the electric heat left his skin, to be replaced by hard armour, Kylo allowed the darkness encroaching on his thoughts to pull him under.

 


	2. Implosion

Since his return to the  _Finalizer_  Hux hadn't been able to sleep. His mind raced constantly, turning over the events leading up to Starkiller's destruction again and again. One moment, the beginning of the end, haunted him more than the others.

=<>=<>=<>=<>=

_“The original design is superior! Strengthened shields are something we must have to protect the base as a whole. Simply concentrating the level of protection over the oscillator is not enough. An auxiliary oscillator is vital in the event of a failure in the primary oscillator. If the primary takes damage during any stage of the firing process then the entire base could implode,” Hux said, precise in his words a slight note of aggravation was leaking through his calm façade._

_“The engineers employed to access the viability of the improved designed said the chances of an implosion is low enough to be an acceptable risk,” General Uarbry droned, his voice crackling with the age clearly written on his pale veined face. “The economic savings are vast and High Command has debated this for far too long, the decision has been made.”_

_“With all due respect, no member of High Command beside myself has the knowledge to understand the complexities of Starkiller and no engineer understands the base like I do as its’ creator. This decision could lead to the ruin of the base!” Red splotches had begun to rise on the General’s cheekbones. Later, once he realised, he would be grateful that the Order’s hologram technology had not progressed enough to allow for colour to be displayed._

_“The decision is final_ General _,” The formally silent High General Rosario said stressing Hux’s title and thus stressing its’ subordination to his own. It was an exercise in control on Hux’s part not to show the anger that ignited in his belly, spreading like icy fire through his veins._

_“All talks of Starkiller Base are henceforth dismissed,” Rosario said before moving on to discussing the financial reports from the last quarter. The High Command outlined a rough budget before Rosario disconnected and Hux was called to deal with Kylo Ren’s latest outburst._

=<>=<>=<>=<>=

 

Restless and lacking a definite purpose this late into the sleep cycle Hux left his quarters. Searching but not quite knowing what for.

His wanderings took him past no crew-members. Their schedules ingrained in his mind so thoroughly that even in his listless state The General could avoid their sparse patrols. Especially now that half his crew were gone, swallowed up with Starkiller. Hux was surprised when his booted feet took him to the sleeping medical bay. Droids beeped at him but Hux waved them off, deciding that his late night wandering might have a purpose.

Hux may as well check on the insolent terror he was charged with rescuing. Snoke would kill him if Ren died on his watch, but doubly so if he died of malpractice on the Flagship of the First Order, no matter how understaffed it was.

There was only on the occupied chamber in this particular MedBay, its’ use solely for officer level staff, of which there were only three currently on board the  _Finalizer_ , so Hux was easily able to find his Co-Commander. However, the General was not prepared for the sight of Kylo Ren nearly naked and suspending in a bacta tank. His eyes widened as he observed the younger man.

It was odd how the slash bisecting it looked right somehow. Stranger still he for once didn't have lines of anger holding his muscles taught. Looking nothing like the tortured predator the General was accustomed to Hux found himself at a lack for words. After several long moments, Hux came upon a moment of clarity. Slashed open and floating in that tank, with his hair fanning out around him and his body relaxed, Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren, looked human. For once, he wasn't that dangerous monster, that unstable lunatic. He was human. What nailed the lid on his humanity in Hux's eyes was the precise and familiar handwriting of the incomplete soulmark inked into his wrist. 

"Elric," He mumbled, rolling the word around his tongue, wondering who this man was. In a rare moment of empathy, Hux felt sympathy for the bane of his existence. From experience he knew Kylo Ren to be an emotional creature fuelled by passion, vengeful passion, he noted but passion none the less, so for him to lack the one thing to fuel an endless fire in his soul must be crushing. 

Thankfully before another lapse of judgement inflicts him with more useless emotions Ren’s Doctor walked in. 

"General!" She said jumping back in surprise. Purple eyes wide as she worked past the shock of seeing the notoriously cold General Hux with something akin to sympathy on his face.

“Doctor Rani,” Hux said coldly, “What is his status?”

Doctor Rani shook off her surprise and informed her General of the extent of Ren’s injuries, detailing how long he’d need to remain in the bacta tank, _“-another day at most-”_  and what the remainder of his treatment would be. When she was finished Hux nodded and turned to leave,

“A word of advice Doctor Rani, keep him unconscious for as long as possible,” Hux said before sweeping out of the room, leaving behind the puzzled doctor but not the peculiar electricity that had been flowing along his skin since Starkiller’s demise almost three cycles ago. If anything, his late night visit to the recovering Knight had made the buzzing worse.


End file.
